Hey, you! Yeah YOU!
How come you haven't registered? Have you read about our new blue star program? We are donating $10 of each blue star subscription to the Blue Ribbon Coalition to ensure that we will have trails to recreate on for years to come.
Our blue star comes with all the benefits of a red star such as 10 second searching, blue/red star member only giveaways, access to the private blue/red star member forums, etc.

From CORVA. El DOrado National forest has used OHMVR grant dollars to work on the Barrett Lake and other OHV trails. If we want to fight, we need to fight to keep our funding.

Remember when Karen and friends were calling for street legal only on the Rubicon?? Well, she tried, unsuccessfully, to strangle the funding for the trail. Let's not let this happen because the legislature thinks they can just do what they want with our money!!

Quote:

Protecting Our OHV Trust Fund
By Amy Granat
The State of California has begun “taking” OHV Trust Fund money you have paid through green sticker purchases, offroad
fuel taxes and user fees from State OHV Parks, meaning they will not be returning it. Last year they took $10 million and we
believe that they will continue to “take,” not borrow, as long as they can get away with it.
We consider this taking to be illegal, and after a legal review, the law firm of Baker Manock & Jensen, specializing in
California Constitutional Law has agreed that this is an investigation worth pursuing. To this end we have formed the Off
Highway Vehicle Defense Council (OHVDC), working with N2Dirt, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, made up of people
representing diverse groups of OHV users throughout California. Baker Manock & Jensen have been retained to immediately
commence a thorough investigation to determine whether, in its opinion, this taking is illegal and what remedies are
available to us. This investigation may result in a suit against the State of California.
The initial effort will cost a maximum of $15,000 of which five thousand dollars has already been paid as a retainer. Every
dollar has been donated by our peers, clubs, and state organizations. Because we have not yet fully funded this project, we
urgently need your tax deductable donations.
The very existence of the State Parks OHV division and all California’s SVRAs are at stake as well as critical funding for
Sheriff’s Departments, National Forests, BLM lands and City/County Recreation departments throughout California. Please
become part of this historic fight and contribute as much as you can.
Make your contribution payable to: “N2DIRT”
Attn: “OHVDC Fund”
4346 E. Los Angeles Ave
Simi Valley, CA 93063
Include “OHVDC Fund” in the check memo field, and include an email address for you or your organization to receive
project status updates. Thanks

From what I can tell, we still have OHV Money, we just don't have the excess funds . All of the projects for this year have funding.

Right?

Quote:

OHV Trust Fund Diversion

The State of California has begun "taking" OHV Trust Fund money you have paid through green sticker purchases, offroad fuel taxes and user fees from State OHV Parks, meaning they will not be returning it. Last year they took $10 million and we believe that they will continue to "take," not borrow, as long as they can get away with it.

We consider this taking to be illegal, and after a legal review, the law firm of Baker Manock & Jensen, specializing in California Constitutional Law has agreed that this is an investigation worth pursuing.

Baker Manock & Jensen has been retained to immediately commence a thorough investigation to determine whether, in its opinion, this taking is illegal and what remedies are available to us. This investigation may result in a suit against the State of California.

The initial effort will cost a maximum of $15 thousand dollars, every dollar being donated by our peers, clubs, and state organizations. Because we have not yet fully funded this project, we urgently need your tax deductible donations.

The very existence of the State Parks OHV division and all California's SVRAs are at stake as well as critical funding for Sheriff's Departments, National Forests, BLM lands and City/County Recreation departments throughout California. Please become part of this historic fight and contribute as much as you can.

I was under the impression we as a user group have sued the State before for a very similar if not identical "taking" of Funds....and we WON.

How is this lawsuit different?

We consider this taking to be illegal, and after a legal review, the law firm of Baker Manock & Jensen, specializing in California Constitutional Law has agreed that this is an investigation worth pursuing.

Baker Manock & Jensen has been retained to immediately commence a thorough investigation to determine whether, in its opinion, this taking is illegal and what remedies are available to us. This investigation may result in a suit against the State of California.

In the top paragraph they say they have decided after legal review it's an illegal taking of funds, but in the second paragraph they need money from us to "investigate" whether or not in it's "opinion" the taking is illegal?

We really have to thank Kenny for starting the ball rolling - he saw what was possible, and brought the rest of us to the table.

Along with Kenny....Mike Wubbels and I have been with him every step of the way because we believe in getting back that the money supposed to go towards OHV opportunities, (and we're gluttons for punishment ).

CORVA is in this all the way, we had actually started investigating the legality of this action last year after the budget bill was signed. When Kenny called, we were able to bring our knowledge and experience together with Mike's passion and Kenny's determination. For those that have donated to CORVA as well - thanks, and your money has gone to help make this possible, as well as continue the fight for Clear Creek, Eldorado, Johnson Valley, warding off new wilderness, Rubicon, and all the areas that we've been working.

So if you want to blame anyone, thank anyone, or ask questions, please do. This is a transparent process as much as we can make it, most of all we want to stand up for the OHV community and try to get our money back!

I was under the impression we as a user group have sued the State before for a very similar if not identical "taking" of Funds....and we WON.

How is this lawsuit different?

If I recall correctly, the earlier "taking" of funds was money that had already made it into the OHV Trust fund. The current action is for funds that are being redirected from the fuel fund before it gets to the OHV Trust fund, which is not allowed according to the California Constitution:

CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 19A LOANS FROM THE PUBLIC TRANPORTATION ACCOUNT OR LOCAL TRANSPORTATION FUNDS

SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature shall not borrow revenues from the
Public Transportation Account, or any successor account, and shall
not use these revenues for purposes, or in ways, other than those
specifically permitted by this article.

Quote:

We consider this taking to be illegal, and after a legal review, the law firm of Baker Manock & Jensen, specializing in California Constitutional Law has agreed that this is an investigation worth pursuing.

In the top paragraph they say they have decided after legal review it's an illegal taking of funds, but in the second paragraph they need money from us to "investigate" whether or not in it's "opinion" the taking is illegal?

The OHVDC is the one that feels that the "taking" is illegal. The OHVDC is getting a legal opinion on it from the attorneys.

Ok sorry...If it is that cut and dried why do we need to raise 15K in investigate whether or not we have a case?

Can't we just tell the LAO to pound sand?

This is the government we're talking about.......They already think it's OK to "take" the funds. Who is "we"? The law firm was picked due to its strong constitutional law reputation. If all goes well, the EAJ act will end up reimbursing us.

It is my understanding that the law firm that the OHVDC has retained is the law firm that sued the State and won with regard to the First 5 case in which the State tried to take monies from the First 5 program.

I was under the impression we as a user group have sued the State before for a very similar if not identical "taking" of Funds....and we WON.

How is this lawsuit different?

In the past the State has found various ways to "borrow" money with the supposed intent to pay it back. There have been successful lawsuits in the past to force the state to pay back at least part of what was borrowed.

This time, AB95 sets up a permanent ten million dollar annual "diversion." This is a taking because there is no intent to pay it back. The logic is that, unlike the green-sticker money or the park entrance fees, the fuel tax component (the largest component by far) is a true "tax" and so is fungible, i.e. it can be used for whatever purpose they see fit. At the time AB95 passed there was disagreement even between state offices as to the legality of this tactic.

Quote:

In the top paragraph they say they have decided after legal review it's an illegal taking of funds, but in the second paragraph they need money from us to "investigate" whether or not in it's "opinion" the taking is illegal?

The OHVDC is initiating this... it is our "belief," although we are not alone in this belief. The lawfirm working on this issue also had this belief after being presented with this issue... this is the legal review. The "investigation" is the determination of exactly how and why this diversion is illegal... basically it is the preparation for a lawsuit.

For comparison purposes, think of a criminal trial. If you are accused of a crime you get a lawyer who prepares a case to go to trial. In a criminal case you go to trial regardless of your chances of winning, but in a civil lawsuit this is called an investigation since nothing has been filed with the court yet. You have the luxury of preparing the case prior to deciding to file. If it happens that this investigation does not indicate a strong possibility of winning then you can stop the action before financing a lawsuit. The investigation assembles the framework for a lawsuit.

This is a complex issue that requires a law firm that specializes in constitutional law, and this doesn't come free. The $15K this is costing is a drop in the bucket of the fund we will need to play with the big boys on issues like this.

Quote:

From what I can tell, we still have OHV Money, we just don't have the excess funds . All of the projects for this year have funding.

Right?

Not really. There's no such thing as excess funds, by the way. There have been funds that accumulated when the commission was being restructured, and there's still large sums owed back to the Trust Fund, but the annual income equals the annual expenses. The Trust Fund funds the entire division, and the grant program is a bit less than one third of the total (last years numbers). Less money effects the whole division, not just the grant program.

Quote:

It is my understanding that the law firm that the OHVDC has retained is the law firm that sued the State and won with regard to the First 5 case in which the State tried to take monies from the First 5 program.

This law firm has not been used for OHMVR funding issues before. They were chosen because of their winning track record suing the state on constitutional law issues.

Quote:

Who is the OHV Defense Council?

Details will be added to the web site soon, hopefully in the next couple days. OHVDC.org

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